Race Report - Round 9
FIRST WIN FOR HERO HARDY AS CONOR MARCHES ON...
CADETS
Qualifying heats for the cadets produces a game of 2 halves as they
say in football, with Giancarlo Tartaro, Sipho Manzi and Gavin
Johnson all starting off with a flurry of heat wins, but only the
ever improving Manzi was still hunting for a trophy in the Main
Final.
The second half saw Harry Hardy, Michael Iacovou and Redmond Carter
show their best form to all qualify for the Main Final, where Harry
and Redmond would continue their ascendancy at the sharp end of the
racing.
Pick of the races were Giancarlo Tartaro’s last gasp win over Daniel
Brewer in Heat 8, Harry Hardy and championship leader Andre Aguirre
Conde’s battle in Heat 13 when the lead changed hands several times
before Harry edged home on the last corner, Red Carter’s stunning
late braking move to pass Krystan Hacker-Hurnn in Heat 26 whilst Rob
Staines effort to squeeze around the outside of 2 drivers in Heat 29
saw him drawn into the tyre wall and out of the Main Final.
With the whole grid separated by only 3 points, the start of the
Main Final was sure to be even, but pole sitter Jonas Moore went
wide and allowed both Andre Aguirre Conde and Harry Hardy past.
Harry used all the blistering pace he had shown in the heats and
quickly hightailed off into a decent lead with Andre in his wake.
Meanwhile, Jonas was squabbling with the chasing pack for third and
Sipho Manzi popped out in front of them to hold 3rd early on. With
places changing at blurring speed they jockeyed for position to
catch Sipho and Ryan Rrapo eventually outmuscles him with a couple
of laps to go.
At the front Harry and Andre kept their stations about 2 seconds
apart and as they started the final lap, Harry had to contend with a
back marker and Andre sensing a weakness in the leader cruised up to
the back of him.
No more drama though for first time winner Hardy as he punched the
air across the line with Andre posting an important for the
championship 2nd place. Redmond Carter had by this time blitzed past
Ryan Rrapo and banged in the fastest lap of the meeting on the final
lap to pick up 3rd place.
Position
Driver Name
Best Lap Race Time
1
Harry Hardy
24.419
4:10.637
2
Andre Aguirre Conde
24.540
4:11.659
3
Red Carter
24.278
4:12.567
4
Ryan Rrapo
25.152
4:24.140
5
Jonas Moore
25.505
4:25.959
6
James Beumee
25.502
4:26.224
7
Krystan Hacker Hurnn
24.974
4:26.297
8
Michael Iacovou
25.394
4:26.925
9
Sipho Manzi
26.018
4:37.756
10
Daniel Brewer
28.618
30.168
JUNIORS
Not to say predictable but the normal suspects in the shape of Conor
Jux-Chandler, Nick Walker and Andy Rrapo were all in dominant form
during qualifying, but the mercurial talents of pint sized George
Skitini also came to the fore, with several late, late, brave
overtakes buoying both his confidence and his points total.
There were a few more penalties for contact than we would have liked
as the chase for the title hots up, but also some good racing.
Heat 9 with Jux-Chandler, Kieran Golding and Kori Angus all swapping
places at the front was an example, as was Skitini’s burst from last
to first in Heat 12, passing his opponents cleanly and at pace.
More classics in Heat 19 as Rrapo stalked Billy Houlihan for the
whole race before diving past him on the last hairpin and Skitini
beating Jux-Chandler into 2nd place one heat later left Walker
desperate for points to stay in the meeting and indeed the
championship.
An unfortunate clash with Ryan Lehane in Heat 23, when Ryan spun as
Nick attempted to pass him on the inside, meant that Walker would
have to start from grid 4 in the Main Final and crucially had
conceded 3 championship points to Jux-Chandler along the way with
much worse to come.
From the Main Final start, Conor leapt into an early lead as Andy
Rrapo surprised George Skitini for second place and Nick Walker led
the rest of the pack into Howler Hairpin. Tagged by one of the
chasing group, Nick sat facing the grandstand as the whole field
passed him and his championship year has got a whole lot harder.
Rrapo was now struggling with the sheer pace of Skitini and
inevitably George produced a trademark pass at Howler and set off
after Conor, determined the championship leader was not to have it
all his own way in this race at least.
Andy now had to tidy his race lines up and defend 3rd place from
Matt Salmon and Prajesh Shah, leaving the top 2 to battle it out,
and he secured the final podium position and now moves up to 3rd
place in the championship with 2 rounds to go.
Skitini began catching Jux-Chandler and it was obvious the last lap
was to be a battle royale for the individual glory of the day.
Expecting the party piece from George at Howler, Conor pulled over
to the inside to block the pass successfully. Next corner is called
Casualty, and for good reason. George banged the kart down the
inside as Conor spotted the move and they locked wheels heading for
the tyre wall.
Luckily, they made it past the tyres and George was now leading with
Conor right alongside as they entered Buswash. Conor on the slower
inside line and George on the further to go, but faster outside
line. Exiting the corner Conor dominated the middle of the
racetrack and George came up alongside in a drag race to the finish,
won by under 2 tenths of a second by a jubilant Conor Jux-Chandler.
He is surely on his way now to winning the championship with Nick
Walker back in 8th place, and a 25 point lead with 2 rounds to go.
Position
Driver Name
Best Lap Race Time
1
Conor Jux Chandler
24.699
4:15.402
2
George Skitini
24.484
4:15.572
3
Andy Rrapo
25.345
4:19.923
4
Matt Salmon
25.067
4:20.156
5
Prajesh Shah
25.150
4:20.402
6
Billy Cowan
24.718
4:21.129
7
Kieran Golding
25.207
4:24.529
8
Nick Walker
25.550
4:29.801
9
Eddy Hall
25.504
4:30.688
10
Billy Houlihan
26.350
2:48.492
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